and president obama is the likely benefactor of that. the latest nbc news poll shows him well ahead in the key swing states and every ballot cast early for mr. obama is one less voter that mitt romney can win over. steve handelsman is on capitol hill with the latest on this. steve? >> reporter: wendy, thanks. early voting, the official election day is november 6th, but that's actually really the last day you can vote. >> today is election day. >> reporter: in iowa today, michelle obama kicked off what she hopes becomes a stampede. >> are you fired up? are youeady to vote? are you going to go vote right now? >> reporter: the first lady sent voters to a satellite voting site across the street. so they could cast ballots on the spot. early voting started yesterday in this battleground state, and the turnout is breaking records. >> this is well over double what we did four years ago. >> reporter: most of these early voters say they're voting obama. >> well, i think it's because we're all excited and the romney people just aren't that excited